Life's Little Twists
by mfaerie32
Summary: Missing moments from Eliot, Sarah, Cam & Lily's Life. Suggested reading; An Unexpected Meeting & When You Least Expect It. Pairings: Eliot/Sarah, Nate/Sophie, Parker/Hardison
1. Chapter 1

**Surprise**

**AN: Dedicated to CharleyMom & Kenikia67 for their ideas. =)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage or Eliot.**

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><p>Eliot was happy to finally be home. Their three day job in Cairo had turned into a week and now all he wanted to do was see Sarah and Cam before getting some much needed rest. He was also anxious to see how his wife was doing, because prior to the job it seemed that she had been coming down with a form of the flu. Exhausted was the excuse she gave them for not going on the job like she was supposed to. And when he had woken up the morning they were leaving to find her bent over the toilet, he had tried to convince her that he should stay home with her as he held her hair back from her face. But assuring him that it would pass and that she would get plenty of fluids and rest, she convinced him to go.<p>

The wonderful aroma of some form of Italian food wafted past his nose as he opened the door, and he smiled as he closed it when he saw Sarah looking much better as she stirred a pot on the stove. Quietly setting down his keys, he silently crept up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning down to trail kisses along her neck.

"Hmmm…I'd know those lips anywhere," she murmured with an appreciative sigh.

"I missed you," he growled out huskily.

"Same here, handsome," she replied, turning in his arms to lean up and kiss him soundly on the lips. He responded in kind, his hands lowering to cup her ass as he pulled her closer, her arms reaching up to bury into his hair. "As much as I'd like to continue this," she murmured against his lips, "Cam is upstairs changin' and dinner's almost ready," she explained.

With a groan he reluctantly pulled back. "Fine…but why is Cam changin' clothes just for dinner?"

"He wanted to wear somethin' special since he knew you were comin' home today," she told him, reaching over to grab something off a nearby plate and dip it in some kind of sauce before taking a bite.

"What is that?" he asked in confusion.

"Mozzarella sticks," she answered as she dipped another and ate it.

"And what are you dippin' them in?"

"Honey mustard," she answered easily, reaching over to grab a glass of what looked to be grapefruit juice.

"Did you go to the doctor?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured him with a smile.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. Cam! It's time for dinner!" she yelled out.

"What are we havin'?"

"Chicken Alfredo…wanna taste?" she offered, holding up a spoonful of sauce for his inspection.

"Damn that's good sweetheart. I'm surprised you didn't put shrimp or scallops in it."

She visibly cringed. "Ugh, no seafood tonight," she told him, and he worried at the almost green expression on her face. This confused him because he knew she loved seafood.

Cam came bounding down the stairs moments later with a large grin on his face as he launched himself at Eliot. "Daddy! I missed you so much…you were gone way too long and mama's been actin' all funny," he rushed out.

In growing concern he sat down at the table as Sarah brought their plates over and then filled their glasses before grabbing something out of the cabinet and returning to the table. Soft smile in place as if she knew something no one else did, he watched in mild disgust as she drowned her plate with tobasco sauce and then dug into it with gusto.

"Okay what's goin' on?"

"Daddy…do you like my new shirt mama got me?" Cam asked, tugging on Eliot's sleeve.

Not even looking he replied distractedly, "It looks nice Cam," before turning a mild glare on his wife. "Sweetheart, you're worryin' me. You're eatin' weird things, the idea of seafood made you look like you were gonna be sick, you were throwin' up before I left and now you're ruinin' the Alfredo."

"Mama…he's not lookin' at my shirt. You said he had to see it," Cam exclaimed.

"El…why don't you take a look at Cam's new shirt," she requested softly with that damn smile.

"Fine," he growled, turning to look at the blue, short sleeve tshirt his son wore. "It looks good Cam. Now what's goin'…" but before he could turn back toward Sarah, Cam pulled the hem of the shirt straight, allowing him to see the words more clearly. And as his mind processed the brightly colored letters that spelled out 'Big Brother', he felt Sarah take his hand. "We've been tryin' to tell you…daddy," she finished softly as she placed his hand on her stomach.

The connection between the words on Cam's shirt and what she had just said finally clicked and his eyes widened as his gaze traveled from his hand on her stomach, up to her smiling face. "You still with us?" she teased.

"I'm…you're…we're gonna…really?" he muttered incoherently.

She nodded. "The doc says I'm about ten weeks. I suspected before you left but I wanted to make sure before I…" Anything else she might have said was put to a halt as he engulfed her in a hug, then immediately pulled back.

"Shit sweetheart…sorry," he said, looking down at her stomach with a large grin.

"You can still hug me El," she chuckled, amused at his actions. "So I take it you're happy about this?"

"Happy?" he asked in disbelief before taking her back in his arms. "You have no idea how much this… that you're carryin' our child," he said softly, lowering his hand to caress her stomach. "There are no words for how happy this makes me sweetheart," he murmured leaning in to kiss her.

"When will the baby get here?" Cam asked eagerly.

"Well…the doctor gave me a due date of December twenty ninth," Sarah told him, pulling away from Eliot and kneeling down. "Are you okay with havin' a little brother or sister?"

"I won't be the baby anymore will I?" he asked a little sadly.

"No, but you will always be my first baby," Sarah assured him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Besides," Eliot added. "You get to be the big brother. That's a big thing," he said, ruffling Cam's hair, before turning back to Sarah. "We need to get you some vitamins right? And then there's a class we take and we need to choose a hospital…do you want to have the baby in a hospital? Or do you want a…what do they call 'em…a midwife? Or do you want a water birth? And we have to get stuff for the nursery, and…"

"El!" Sarah exclaimed, raising her voice a little to stop his rambling. "We have seven months," she explained with a chuckle. "The doctor gave me some prenatal vitamins, we can go to Lamaze class if you want and I figured we could go check out the hospital my doctor does deliveries at in a couple of months. And I think we should wait until my sonogram in a two months till we decorate the nursery so we'll know what we're havin'. That is if you wanna know…or do you want it to be a surprise?" she asked unsure.

"Whatever you want sweetheart…what about you little man…you wanna know what your mama's havin'?"

"I definitely wanna know!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Are we gonna tell Grandpa and Uncle Alec? Or is it a secret?"

"Grandpa?" Eliot asked in confusion.

"Grandpa Nate," Cam explained. "He's like your daddy and you're my daddy so that makes him my grandpa," he finished as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"When did this happen?" Eliot asked Sarah.

"Three days ago."

"You think he'll be okay with it?" Cam asked nervously. "I don't wanna make him mad or anything."

"Nah, I think he'll be happy about it," Eliot told him, pulling him in for a brief hug.

"Let's invite them over tomorrow night for dinner," Sarah suggested. "But at the moment, I want brownies," she told him with a big grin. "What do you say Cam? You want some of your dad's brownies?"

"Yes please!" he exclaimed with a wide grin.

"This is one of those cravings isn't it?" Eliot asked her with a smirk, already heading into the kitchen. "I'm gonna have to cater to them if I don't wanna incur your wrath aren't I?"

"I guess it's a good thing that you're such an amazing cook," she retorted.

"Sit," he ordered, before lifting Cam to sit on the island.

"Yes sir!" she mock saluted, taking a seat on a bar stool.

"Extra chocolate I take it?"

"Mmmmm…double the chocolate chips," she added.

"Can I stir the batter daddy?" Cam asked eagerly.

"I suppose so," he replied, causing Cam to clap excitedly.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

By the time the team had arrived the next evening for dinner, their level of curiosity was so high that Sarah and Eliot was finding it hard not to be amused at how many different ways they had tried to discover what was going on.

Earlier that day Sarah had called Hailey and Eliot called David to give them the news, receiving congratulations and squeals of excitement in response, Hailey adding that she and Emma would be down in the next two weeks to visit. They made a joint call to Anne, who immediately burst into tears and started giving Sarah advice on ways to help with some of the symptoms she would be encountering.

After having bribed a promise from Cam not to tell anyone with a trip to the aquarium, she and Eliot decided to see if they would figure it out before telling them outright.

"Grandpa!" Cam greeted enthusiastically, launching himself at the older man; Nate's slightly widened, water filled eyes confirming Eliot's guess at how he would take it.

Everyone kept staring at Eliot and Sarah as they finished preparing dinner and getting it set on the table. The older two noticing the small grins on their faces and the way Eliot kept reaching around her to get to the plates in the cabinets. Sophie's eyes narrowing as she watched Eliot take some of the loaded casseroles and plates of food from Sarah and the irritated scowl she gave him in return.

It wasn't until their plates were filled with spinach stuffed chicken breasts and roasted vegetables that Parker's patience wore off. "You're leavin aren't you? Moving away from us?" she whispered, in a tone reminiscent of a frightened child.

"What? No Parker, we're not leavin'," Eliot assured her, confusion written on his face.

"Then what's up with this important news you have to tell us?" Hardison inquired as he took a bite of his food. "Not that we mind comin' over for your food Eliot, cause damn man, this is amazing, but it sounded important and Parker's been drivin' me up the wall thinkin' you guys are leavin' her," he mumbled in between bites of food.

"We're not leavin' Parker, I promise," Sarah told her with a smile before getting up to go over to a cabinet, pulling out the tobasco, then the fridge, grabbing a can of cheese wiz and returning to the table.

As she squirted the cheese and poured the Tabasco over her entire plate, Nate chuckled, Sophie smiled and Parker and Hardison looked at her in disgust.

"What are you doin?" Hardison asked in disbelief. "That's just nasty girl."

"Congratulations guys," Nate murmured with a smile.

"How far along are you?" Sophie asked.

"Congrats for what? And who's coming along?" Parker asked in confusion.

Hardison's head jerked up from his plate and his eyes began switching from Sarah and Eliot's face to her stomach. Their smiles confirmed his guess. "You guys are…really? That's great!"

"What's going on?" Parker asked again. "Why's everyone so happy?"

"Mama's gonna have a baby Aunt Parker! I'm gonna be a big brother!" Cam announced proudly.

"So you're not leavin'?" she confirmed.

"No Parker," Eliot repeated, a little irritably.

"I'm ten weeks along," Sarah said, answering Sophie. "I'm due December twenty ninth."

"Is that why you're eating like that?" Parker wanted to know, looking at Sarah's plate dubiously.

"It's called cravings Parker, and most pregnant women have them," Sophie explained.

Sarah's face paled as her hand suddenly covered her mouth, and in seconds she jumped up from her chair and rushed to the nearest bathroom. Eliot looked after her worriedly as Sophie silently stood and walked over to the kitchen sink.

"And so it begins," Nate chuckled. "Hope you're ready for it," he threw the hitter's way as Sophie made her way over to him and pressed a cool, wet cloth into his hand, nodding toward the bathroom.

Eliot immediately stood and made his way to Sarah, with the feeling that he was in for a wild ride he would never forget.

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><p><strong>Okay so, while I love my son dearly, I did NOT find pregnancy an enjoyable thing. (Except maybe feelin' him doin' acrobatics every night…lol) I LOVE seafood &amp; I couldn't even be in the same room with it without getting' sick. And mornin' sickness? "Snort" Try 24hr a day sickness...lol. The only thing I wanted that didn't make me nauseous was watermelon &amp; Sunny D…which by the way I hate…lol. I told my hubby we could have had a watermelon farm &amp; I woulda been ecstatic. =D<strong>


	2. Names, Cravings & Mood Swings

**Names, Cravings & Mood Swings**

**AN: Dedicated to Passionate Heart & themindofmine for their ideas.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>"And here are the hands," the technician said, using the mouse to move the cursor on the screen. "This is the head, and…here are the feet," she finished after having moved the scanner over another area of Sarah protruding stomach.<p>

Two pairs of eyes glued avidly to the screen, Eliot reached for Sarah's hand and gave it a brief squeeze, with a smile plastered on his face.

"Do you want to know the sex?" the technician asked, her friendly face smiling at them.

Eliot looked at Sarah, silently telling her that it was up to her. "Yes please," she replied after a brief pause.

"Okay, let me just get a better view," she said, moving he scanner yet again. "Here we are…it looks like you guys are going to have a little girl," she told them with a smile.

"Really? Are you sure?" Sarah asked.

"Pretty sure, she's not exactly hiding and I'm not seeing anything to tell me otherwise," she chuckled as she put the scanner away and brought out a napkin to wipe the gel from Sarah's stomach. "Just let me make a cd for you right quick and you're free to get dressed and go," she told them.

"We're havin' a girl," Eliot muttered to himself. "I'm gonna have a daughter," he said a little louder, a smile reappearing on his face.

"Here you are," the technician said, handing the cd to Sarah since Eliot seemed a little unfocussed. "Congratulation," she wished them before walking out the door with her papers.

Sarah chuckled lightly at the expression on Eliot's face as he distractedly helped her from the table. So many thoughts began running through the hitter's mind as Sarah changed, the fact that she was going to have his child in the next few months made more real by seeing her on the screen. He could imagine a little girl with his wife's smile and his blue eyes. Sarah's kindness and sassiness mixed with his stubbornness and strategic thinking. She would be beautiful. She would have them all wrapped around her finger.

She wouldn't be allowed to date until she was forty.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

"You guys have no idea how much I appreciate this," Sarah said from her position in the chair she sat in.

Wanting to do something nice for her since the doctor had all but restricted her to home due to a miscarriage scare two weeks ago, Eliot had surprised her by serving her breakfast in bed that morning, dressed in tattered jeans, tennis shoes, a worn shirt and a bandana holding his hair back, announcing that she needed to hurry and eat because the rest of the team would be there soon.

After finishing the gourmet breakfast he had prepared and which she amazingly had not thrown it up, she dressed in a pair of maternity jeans and a loose tshirt before being carried downstairs by Eliot, who ignored her protests reminding her that the doctor told her to take it easy, before setting her down in the cushioned chair she now sat in. Mildly confused at why the entire team was there, Parker and Hardison in worn clothing and Sophie with several catalogs, it didn't take her much longer to realize what the surprise was when she saw the paint buckets, brushes and rollers.

"It's no problem, but you're welcome," Nate replied from the chair he occupied next to Sophie.

Eliot leveled a playful glare at him. "And what exactly are you doin'? I just see you sittin' there drinkin' coffee," he scoffed.

"I'm supervising," the older man defended.

"Why are you complaining Eliot, this is fun!" Parker stated as she glided the roller over the wall.

"I could help you know," Sarah stated. "I'm only seven months El, I could…"

"No, you're gonna sit there with Sophie and pick out stuff for the nursery. Doctor's orders," he reminded her, turning to look at her frustrated expression. "If only to ease my mind," he added.

"Fine," she huffed. "Ooh, I like that," Sarah commented, her mood changing quickly as she pointed to a butterfly crib set in the catalog her and Sophie were looking in.

"Consider it yours sweetie."

"Sophie, you don't have to…"

"Consider it one of our many gifts for her," Nate told her.

"Are ya'll ever gonna come up with a name?" Hardison asked as he began working details onto the picture on the wall.

"We can't come up with a name the both of us like," Eliot explained.

"You could name her Parker," the thief suggested.

"No," Eliot replied.

"I like Lizzie," Cam stated with a big grin as he swiped the paint brush across the wall.

"That short for Elizabeth?" Hardison wanted to know.

"No, just Lizzie," the little boy replied.

"Cam sweetie, you've got more paint on you than you do on the walls," Sarah chuckled, taking in the paint splattered face of her five year old.

"I'm gettin' it on the wall too mama," he defended.

"What are we doin' for dinner tonight," Hardison asked.

"I could whip up some spaghetti," Eliot suggested, knowing that Sarah was loving anything pasta at the moment.

"Ugh…no," Sarah groaned, looking sick all of a sudden.

"Nausea still hasn't gone away?" Nate asked in a sympathetic tone.

"Not completely. Thankfully it only happens once in a while. Can we have hot wings?" she suggested instead.

"Yeah, I can whip up a batch when we're done here," Eliot told her, understanding by this point that her food likes and dislikes changed as rapidly as her moods.

"Have you decided on furniture yet?" Sophie asked.

"No…El and I were gonna go looking this month, but with the doc's orders and all, I'm kinda stuck here," she explained forlornly.

"If you tell me what you're looking for, maybe Sophie can take me to some baby stores and I can take pictures for you to look at," Parker suggested.

Four pairs of shocked eyes turned to the thief as Sarah's filled with unshed tears. Parker noticed the silence and turned to see the reactions, before a mixed expression of worry and confusion appeared. "Did I say something wrong? I thought it would help. Was it not the right thing to…"

"I would love that Parker. Thank you so much," Sarah murmured as a tear fell down her face.

"I didn't mean to make her cry," Parker told Hardison in an apologetic tone.

"No worries momma, I think they're happy tears," he assured her, leaning over to kiss her forehead.

"Not to mention my damn hormones," Sarah chuckled as she wiped her tears away and sniffled.

Two hours later, the group stood back and admired their handiwork. The combination of the pale pink walls and the subtle contrast of the white crown molding and baseboards gave the room a soft, feminine feel. But it was Hardison's handiwork that shown as the crowning glory, giving the room that little bit extra. On one wall he had painted a cherry blossom tree. The trunk stood proudly against the edge, allowing the intricately tangled mass of branches to spread out over the rest of the wall, creating a canopy of sorts, under which the crib would sit. Dark pink and white flowers blossomed all over the branches as butterflies in several shades of purple fluttered through the branches.

"It's beautiful Alec," Sarah whispered, her eyes watering up yet again.

"No problem momma," he assured her. "Think of it as one of many baby gifts I'm gonna get you," he told her with a grin.

"You're still gonna paint my room, right Uncle Alec?" Cam asked excitedly.

"Once you tell me what you want."

Not wanting Cam to feel left out in all of the excitement with painting the new room and buying new furniture, Eliot and Sarah had surprised him with the information that his room would be getting an upgrade as well.

"I want the justice league!" he exclaimed excitedly with a wide grin.

Eliot wrapped his arm around her as she wiped her eyes and she looked up at him with a smile. If they knew anything, it was that their little girl would be every bit as loved as Cam was.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

Sarah groaned as she entered the apartment in front of Eliot, shedding her coat and gloves before waddling her way slowly to the couch, holding her lower back.

"I swear, if I get any bigger someone's gonna harpoon me," she complained as she carefully lowered herself onto the plush cushions, an appreciative moan escaping her lips.

"You are not a whale sweetheart," Eliot assured her yet again. No matter how hard he tried to convince her otherwise, it never seemed to get through.

"Now I'm a whale?" she growled, turning a hard glare his way, her mood quickly shifting to anger.

"I believe I said quite the opposite," he answered. "You're back's hurtin', why don't you let me massage it," he suggested, smoothly changing the subject.

"Oooh please," she pleaded scooting forward on the couch, making room for him as he sat behind her.

Out of all the things he had learned in Lamaze class, this had been the most beneficial. He knew that she had already done the class years ago with Daniel when she was pregnant with Cam, but to go through it again just to give him the experience made him love her even more. His large hands working methodically over her lower spine, he smiled at the appreciative moans coming from her, telling him he was obviously doing something right.

"I've been thinkin'," she began, eyes still closed as she enjoyed the massage.

"That's dangerous," he teased.

"Haha…how about Khloe?"

"Hmmm, better than your last suggestion."

"There's nothin' wrong with Molly," she defended.

He snorted. "Sure…okay. What about Mia?"

"Ugh…knew a Mia once, she was a bitch. Alexa?"

"Definitely not," he answered quickly.

When no further explanation was given, she turned her head and raised an eyebrow.

"Ex of mine," he explained. "She was workin' for men lookin' for me."

"Okay then," she said, turning back around, "Not Alexa…Mikayla maybe?"

"That's a possibility. I'm just not sold on any of them honestly."

"No worries handsome, we still have a month," she assured him. "Thanks for the massage, I feel much better," she murmured, turning her head and lifting her hand to pull him in for a kiss.

"For you…anything sweetheart."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

Something woke Eliot up later that night. At first he wasn't sure what it was, but once he realized Sarah wasn't in bed next to him, his heart jumped. He threw the covers off of him and rushed to the bathroom, hoping she was there, but having no such luck; he immediately took off out of the room and down the stairs wearing nothing but pajama bottoms repeating a mantra in his head, hoping she was alright. The miscarriage scare they had six weeks ago had taken numerous years off his life. Finding her crying in the bathroom, thin rivers of blood running down her legs, would haunt him for the rest of his life.

He came to an abrupt halt once he reached the kitchen, relief flooding him before amusement and confusion took over, wiping away the fear he had felt for a few brief moments. She was on the floor in front of the refrigerator cleaning off the shelves with a wet cloth, the contents of which were scattered on the floor around her. The counter tops were crowded with what looked like all the contents of the cabinets above it.

"What are you doin' sweetheart?"

Startled, Sarah jerked her head up, eyes wide and then brought her hand up to her chest. "Shit El, you scared the crap outta me."

Eliot smirked. "Is there a reason you felt the need to rearrange and clean our kitchen at three in the mornin'?"

"I had heartburn and it woke me up. Once I took some Maalox I wanted watermelon, but when I didn't find any, I realized how dirty the kitchen was and well, here I am," she finished, gesturing around.

Unbeknownst to all but Sarah, Eliot had bought a book on pregnancy so he would know what to expect. And from what he could tell, she was going through what they called 'nesting'; the uncontrollable urge to clean and tie up loose ends in preparation for the baby.

"And now my legs are numb, my back hurts, I'm feelin' nauseous and I still want some damn watermelon," she stated irritably.

Shaking his head, Eliot walked over and gently helped her to stand, before kissing her softly. "Let me help you put everything back in the fridge and I'll go to the store and get your watermelon. The stuff on the counters can wait till tomorrow," he offered, running his hands over her upper arms.

"Where are you gonna get watermelon at this time of the night?"

"There's a twenty four hours supermarket about fifteen minutes from here."

"Thank you El," she murmured, leaning in as best as she could to hug him.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

Eliot closed and locked the front door an hour later, watermelon in hand. Not immediately seeing his wife, he threw his keys on the table and headed into the kitchen to place the already cut melon pieces in a bowl and grab a fork. Silently he made his way to the bedroom and froze in the doorway as he watched his wife, curled on her side; hand on her belly, singing softly to their unborn daughter.

"Sometimes I'll protect you from everything that's wrong

Other times I'll let you just find out on your own

But that's when you'll be growin'

And the whole time I'll be knowin'

.

You're gonna fly with every dream you chase

You're gonna cry but know that that's okay

Sometimes life's not fair but if you hang in there

.

You're gonna see that sometimes bad is good

We just have to believe things work out like they should

Life has no guarantees, but always loved by me

You're gonna be."

.

Something must have told her she wasn't alone because she suddenly lifted her head to see him standing there watching. "Come here daddy, she's awake," she murmured, gesturing him closer.

He quickly made his way to the bed, placing the bowl of fruit on the nightstand before settling next to her and placing his hand on her stomach. "Hello princess, not givin' your mama trouble tonight are you?" Whether from the sound of his voice or in answer to his question, his daughter responded by pushing against his hand. Eliot never ceased to be amazed at the feeling.

Eliot looked up at Sarah and chuckled upon seeing her place a piece of melon in her mouth. "What? I'm pregnant and hungry," she defended. Continuing where she had left off, he sang softly to their daughter while Sarah ate.

.

'Cause anything worth doin' is worth doin' all the way

Just know you'll have to live with all the choices that you make

So make sure you're always givin' way more than you're takin'

.

You're gonna fly with every dream you chase

You're gonna cry, but know that that's okay

Sometimes life's not fair, but if you just hang in there

.

You're gonna see that sometimes bad is good

We just have to believe things work out like they should

Life has no guarantees, but always loved by me

You're gonna be

.

He looked up to see her staring at him with a soft expression that suddenly changed to one of a more carnal nature. Leaning forward suddenly, she pressed herself against him and moved her mouth over his with an almost desperate need.

"Sweetheart…" he managed to say, pulling away slightly, "I don't think we should…"

Expression and mood changing abruptly yet again, she looked at him as if he had just kicked her. "It's because I'm fat isn't it?" she asked, her eyes watering. "You said…I looked like…a whale earlier…and now you…" her words were broken due to her crying as he struggled to understand what she was saying.

Confusion filled him as he tried to figure out what he had done. The frequency and strength of her mood swings were getting worse and he was getting whiplash trying to keep up. "Sweetheart!" he called out, gently grabbing her shoulders, trying to get her attention. "What are you talkin' about?"

"You don't wanna…have sex cause I'm so…fat," she choked out, tears falling down her cheeks. "You don't find me…attractive."

His eyes widened as he finally realized what was going on and then he immediately shook his head at the ridiculousness of the statement as he looked into her tear filled eyes. He knew it was hormones talking, but the idea that she thought he didn't find her attractive filled him with a determination to show her otherwise.

Reaching out, he took her face gently in his hands and brushed her tears away with his thumbs. "Whether you're pregnant or eighty four, you will always be the most beautiful woman I know sweetheart," he told her as he looked her in the eyes with an affectionate expression, before leaning in to take her lips with his. Pulling back a few moments later, he gave her the smirk he knew she loved so much. "I was just worried about doin' anything cause you said your back was hurtin'…remember?"

Eyes lighting up with understanding she ducked her head down. "Oh god, I feel so damn stupid. I thought you didn't want…"

Reaching out with his hand, he lifted her chin so he could see her eyes. "Nothin' could be further from the truth beautiful," he assured her.

He spent the next hour proving just that.

* * *

><p><strong>Writing about her pregnancy is bringing back a whole bunch of memories from mine…lol. I swear the mood swings were like an out of body experience, I knew I was being irrational &amp; unreasonable, but I couldn't control it…lol. Thankfully, my hubby was awesome. =)<strong>

**The song is "You're Gonna Be" by Reba McEntire**

**Jen**


	3. Learning As You Go

**3. Learning As You Go**

**AN: This one's for saides, KarshaJo & Passionate Heart**

**Hope you like it. =)**

* * *

><p>"I bet you think you're cute don't you?" Eliot grumbled, shying away briefly from the concoction he found in the diaper, before cleaning it up with baby wipes, as his three and a half month old daughter stared up at him with wide eyes. "Diaper," he stated moments later, reaching out for the clean one Cameron held at the ready from a distance.<p>

"Here daddy," he rasped in a slightly hoarse voice, handing it over with a grin.

Before Eliot could fasten it however, Cam interrupted. "No daddy, you're doin' it wrong. You have to check her for a rash."

"Oh, so you're the expert on diaper changin' now?" the hitter teased with a smirk.

"Yeah I am," he stated proudly.

"Okay, you can change the next one," Eliot retorted, causing Cam's eyes to widen.

"I'm still not feelin' well, I'm gonna go take a nap," he replied, making a hasty retreat.

"Guess that leaves you and me princess," he murmured as he picked his daughter up.

Since Lily's birth, Sarah had stayed at home, watching the kids as the others went on jobs. She had been happy to be the one to take care of Cam and Lily on her own, driving Cam to and from kindergarten, helping with the PTA and fundraisers, changing dirty diapers, dealing with colic and colds and making sure the house was kept straight and dinner was on the table; all while he and the group were off helping one victim after another. Until he came home two days ago from a nine day job in New Mexico to find her having a breakdown in the living room, wearing a baggy shirt and worn jeans, hair in disarray, with circles under her eyes, looking like she hadn't slept or taken care of herself in a week; rocking a screaming Lily in her arms as Cam cried out hoarsely for more water from his bedroom.

Apparently Cam had contracted strep throat from school four days ago, Lily had had an earache for the last two, and the water had been out for almost twenty four hours. Sara had hit her breaking point.

He had called for reinforcements immediately and within fifteen minutes, Sophie was taking care of Cam's requests, Parker had managed to quiet Lily, and having called Hardison to have him get into the public water maintenance system to put a rush request from a supervisor to get the water fixed on their block, he took Sarah in the bedroom and held her as she finished crying, then sung her to sleep letting her get some much needed rest.

The next day he had told Nate that he was taking a month off to help Sarah and spend time with the kids. The mastermind had taken better than Eliot thought he would. Of course he didn't know that Sophie had already 'talked' to Nate, letting him know in no uncertain terms that he would say yes.

So now it was Friday night and Sarah had been out with Sophie and Parker for most of the day for much needed pampering and a girl's night out, leaving him alone with his two children who were still sick.

"Daddy, can I have some ice cream?" Cam asked hopefully with a pleading look.

"Not until you eat your dinner," Eliot replied as he laid Lily on her play mat on the floor.

"But my throat is sore, it hurts to swallow," the little boy argued.

"Not a problem, I made soup," Eliot answered with a smirk, turning to his son.

"Soup's hot, it'll hurt," Cam tried.

"Then it's a good thing I made a cold soup," Eliot answered, yet again thwarting his son.

"Cold soup? Eww gross daddy," Cam pouted, sitting down at the table with a frown.

"Just try it," Eliot told him, ruffling his hair and smirking as his son looked at the orange soup in mild disgust.

But as Eliot had predicted, the moment the first spoonful of soup hit Cam's mouth, the little boy's eyes widened in surprise. "This is really good daddy," he gushed, digging in. "What is it?" he asked with a full mouth.

"Sweet potato soup…and don't sound so surprised," Eliot replied dryly as Lily started crying. "What's wrong princess," Eliot murmured sweetly as he picked her up.

But Lily was not in the mood to be sweet talked by her father like she normally was, she was very unhappy and was letting everyone know it.

"What's wrong sweetheart? I thought your ear was getting' better," me muttered in concern. "Let's check your temp," he said, grabbing the baby thermometer off the bar and swiping it across her forehead. "You don't have a fever…"

"Press her tummy," Cam suggested as he slurped up the last of the soup.

"What?" Eliot asked in confusion, wondering how in the world pressing her stomach would help.

"Mama does it to see if she has gas. If it feels tight she does," he explained.

Still not sure if he believed it, Eliot did as Cam suggested and pressed her stomach, only to find it was okay. "It's not tight," he called out over his daughter's increasingly loud cries. "Are you hungry? It's only been two hours," he pondered, sitting her in the swing that was in the kitchen as he made his way to the fridge to get a bottle of breast milk to warm.

"Can I have more daddy?" Cam asked hopefully, holding out his bowl.

"Not as gross as you thought huh?" he replied sarcastically, taking the bowl and refilling it before handing it back.

Lily's cries were escalating and Eliot was worried about how red her face was turning. Picking her up as the bottle warmed on the stove, he walked around and bounced her as he spoke softly to her, trying his best to calm her down.

Quickly placing the bottle in her mouth after checking the temperature; his frustration increased as Lily pushed the bottle away and her cries continued. Fifteen minutes later, she still hadn't stopped crying and Eliot's headache had risen to such a level that the lights in the house were hurting him as he tried in vain to calm her.

"Daddy, I'm gonna go to bed," Cam informed him another ten minutes later. "Can I take a glass of water to my bedroom?"

"Sure, go ahead," Eliot replied, trying to talk over Lily's cries.

"Night daddy," Cam said moments later, water in hand as he gave Eliot a quick, one armed hug.

"Do you need your cough medicine tonight?"

"Nah, I haven't coughed all day," the little boy replied, obviously very happy about the fact.

"Okay, get some sleep," Eliot told him, and with that, Cam ran upstairs leaving the hitter alone with his screaming daughter.

"Time to call your doctor," he muttered, irritated with himself that he hadn't thought of it sooner. Reading the number off the fridge, he dialed and waited.

"Answering service, how may I help you?"

"I need my daughter's doctor paged, Dr. Matthews," Eliot told her over Lily's screams.

"What's the nature of the call?"

'_Really?_' Eliot thought. '_Is she deaf?' _"She's been cryin' for almost an hour."

"Is she experiencing any other symptoms?"

"Not that I can tell," he informed her, proceeding to list off everything he had tried so far.

"What's the patient's name and birthday?"

"Lily Spencer, December 29th, 2011."

"And is this number a good call back number?"

"Yeah," Eliot rushed out, starting to get irritated.

"Okay, I'll page the doctor, you should get a callback within five minutes," she informed him.

When five minutes had passed and there still wasn't a phone call, Eliot began to get flustered and agitated. He was fixing to call them back when the phone rang, only to be told that the doctor was on vacation and the on call doctor was not responding to the page. "Thanks for nothin," Eliot growled as he hung up; armed only with the suggestion to take her to the ER if he was concerned or if she developed a fever.

"I don't wanna have to call your mama, she needs the time off," Eliot muttered, bouncing Lily on his shoulder. "Damn it…he'll never let me forget it, but I'm desperate right about now sweetheart," he murmured, setting her in her swing and turning it on to rock her while he made a call.

"Talk," Hardison ordered as soon as he answered.

"I need you to do somethin' for me," Eliot told him.

"Man, you know this is the night I raid with my guild. I'm in the middle of a dungeon right now, it's gonna have to…is that Lily screaming? What'd you do to her man?"

"I didn't do nothin'! She's been screamin' nonstop for an hour and I can't figure out what's wrong."

"Why don't you call your wife?"

"Cause she needs a break. Now get online and give me some ideas as to what could be wrong with her," Eliot told him.

"Man, I already told you I was busy. You guys have a computer, why can't you do it," the hacker complained.

"You know I suck when it comes to computers, I can barely do that Photoshop thing you taught me," Eliot retorted. "Now help me or I'll tell Parker where you really were two weeks ago," the hitter threatened.

"You wouldn't? It was important! I had to be in line to get that game," he defended.

"I'm sure Parker will feel that way when she finds out that's why you cancelled putt-putt night," Eliot retorted. "Just get online and look for me."

"Fine," the hacker huffed. "What other symptoms does she have?"

"Nothin' that I can tell. She's not hungry, not messin' with her ear, she doesn't have gas and she doesn't have a temperature," he explained. The only sound Eliot heard for the next couple of minutes was Hardison typing on his computer.

"Well?" Eliot snapped, patience wearing thin.

"According to this, she could be teething. "Wash your hands and rub your finger along her gums."

"What?"

"It says here that if she's teethin' she'll try to chew on it," he explained.

"You want me to stick my finger in her mouth?" Eliot asked incredulously.

"Do you want my help or not? Just do it."

"Fine," Eliot growled, making his way to the sink to wash his hands, before sitting back down in front of her. Hesitantly he reached out and cautiously stuck one finger in her mouth and began to run it against her lower gums. Lily quieted, and Eliot briefly thought they had found the reason, until her screams began yet again. "She ain't tryin' to chew on my finger and as you can hear, she's still cryin'," he snarled.

"Okay, according to this, if she has no temperature and you've ruled out the normal issues, fever, gas, and hunger, then it says it could be colic."

"What the hell is that?"

"It says it's a condition in which an otherwise healthy baby cries or displays symptoms of distress frequently and for extended periods, without any discernible reason."

"How do I fix it?" Eliot asked exasperatedly.

"You don't. It says it will run its course."

"What's that supposed to mean? How long will it last?"

"It could last a couple of hours," Hardison told him reluctantly.

"A couple of…I can't take much more of her screamin' Hardison. Not to mention her face is turnin' red, which is scarin' the hell outta me."

"Try swaddling her."

"Huh?"

"You know how Sarah sometimes wraps her up in one of those thin, square blankets?"

"When she looks like a cocoon you mean?"

"Yeah, try that. Then it says to rock her and make a strong 'Shhh' sounds next to her ear."

"Well that's helpful," Eliot retorted dryly.

"Hey, I'm only readin' what I find man, don't shoot the messenger. You good? I need to get back to..."

"Yeah, yeah, your game, go on…..thanks," he added belatedly before hanging up.

Ten minutes later, after several failed attempts at 'swaddling', as Hardison had put it, he finally succeeded and then began rocking her and making the 'Shhh' sound as he had been told. However, an hour later, she was still crying and Eliot was on the verge of losing it. He had never been one for crying, but if he was, he would have been doing so. He now understood fully why Sarah had broken down. He didn't know if he would've been able to handle this for a week alone.

"I only know one other thing to try princess. It works like a charm on your mama, so maybe it'll work for you," he murmured, lowering her to a cradling position so she could see his face. "I'm gonna sing it slower than it usually is just for you," he murmured with a small smile, briefly holding her attention as her cries quieted somewhat. "It's not a lullaby, but your daddy doesn't know any just yet. I'll have to work on that," he told her, her wide blue eyes focused solely on his now, even though her cries continued.

.

"Got a baby girl sleeping in my bedroom  
>And her mama laughing in my arms<br>There's the sound of rain on the rooftop  
>And the game's about to start<p>

I don't really know how I got here  
>But I'm sure glad that I did<br>And it's crazy to think that one little thing  
>Could've changed all of it<p>

Maybe it didn't turn out like I planned  
>Maybe that's why I'm such, such a lucky man<p>

For every stoplight I didn't make  
>Every chance I did or I didn't take<br>All the nights I went too far  
>All the girls that broke my heart<br>All the doors that I had to close  
>All the things I knew but I didn't know<br>Thank God for all I missed  
>Cause it led me here to<br>This

All the fights and the tears and the heartache  
>I thought I'd never get through<br>And the moment I almost gave up  
>All lead me here to you<p>

I didn't understand it way back when  
>But sitting here right now it all makes perfect sense<br>It led me here to  
>This"<p>

.

Eliot chuckled as he looked at his now silent daughter who was gazing at him with wide eyes and an expression that looked like she was trying to figure him out. "Well, I guess it works for you to princess. Didn't think your old man could sing did ya?" he asked the infant with a smirk. And as if she was responding to his question, she began to coo and gurgle, making baby noises, drawing a soft smile from the hitter's lips. "Two hours' worth of cryin' and all I had to do was sing to you?"

"Dadada," she murmured softly.

"Yeah, I'm your daddy sweetheart, I'm glad you're…wait, did you just say dada?"

"Dada," she repeated, as if in answer to his question, causing his eyes to widen.

"You said dada!" he exclaimed, jumping up and lifting her in the air. "You just made your daddy so damn happy princess. Don't tell mama that I said a bad word though," he finished in a conspiratorial whisper.

Cries finally quieted and a happy smile on his face, Eliot settled onto the couch, tucking Lily into the crook of his arm, before turning on the tv to the sports channel. However, neither lasted very long; both tired and worn out from the last couple of hours, father and daughter quickly fell asleep to the sounds of the tv, the hitter's arms wrapped protectively around his little girl; which is how Sarah would find them two hours later when she got home.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope everyone who celebrates it had a wonderful Thanksgiving!<strong>

**The song is "This" by Darius Rucker.**

**Jen**


	4. Holidays

**4. Holidays**

**Happy Belated Christmas my lovelies!**

**This is the first of 3 shorts since I'm so late. I was w/out internet for over a week. =(**

**I hope to have the other two done and posted by this weekend.**

**Loved the last Leverage; Eliot helpin' out his boys was cute. =)**

**AN: This one's dedicated to KarshaJo.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>It had begun with Easter that past March. Sarah, against her better judgment and Eliot's protests, had put Hardison and Parker in charge of hiding the Easter eggs. Which resulted in camouflaged plastic eggs on the hacker's part and brightly colored eggs on the thief's that were impossible to find, even by the adults. This of course had led to a minor argument from Parker, who wanted to know the point of hiding them if they were easy to find. This didn't deter the kids however, seeing as they found 80% of them, earning a disappointed scowl from Hardison and a proud smile from the thief. Especially when the kids congratulated them on making it challenging; which of course had Parker and Hardison flashing smug expressions for the rest of the day.<p>

Three and a half months later, on the Fourth of July, what should have been a simple two day job turned into four when Hardison overplayed his part and got 'made' by the mark's daughter. Overconfident that he was playing his part perfectly, he succumbed to the flirting she was throwing out, which he would later defend to Parker as part of the job, and then woke up tied to a chair in a dark room. The yearly Fourth of July party was cancelled as the team scrambled to come up with a second con, bringing in Tara to work with Sarah, treating the mark's sons out to a night of flirting, drinking and dancing. This lead to multiple bits of information lifted from their persons and spilled from their drunken lips, which in turn led Eliot and Nate to the storage shed on the daughter's property where the hacker was being held. Six goons injured later, Eliot was rushing a slightly injured Hardison to the van. An hour later, Detective Bonano would arrest not only the father and sons, but the daughter as well, who they had managed to tie into the original con last minute. Parker was furious; not because Hardison was injured or kidnapped, but because there had been no party.

Halloween had almost been disaster free. Somehow, Eliot had been convinced to dress up as a World of Warcraft character like his wife, Hardison and Parker. He would later defend himself saying that his wife was way too talented in the art of persuasion. But along with Cam and Lily in the same theme, they headed out to trick or treat. The first half hour had gone smoothly, until the kids wanted to split up. So Cam going with Hardison and Sarah and Lily with Eliot and Parker, set off in opposite directions down the street. When they met up an hour later, both Eliot and Sarah looked frustrated and angry as the other four looked at each other sheepishly. Cam, not having been satisfied with a miserable old man known for not giving out candy and being mean to kids, had, with Hardison's help, used their smartphones to shut the man's electricity down. Sarah didn't figure it out until they were on their way back and saw the man talking with his neighbors about their still working lights. Lily, upset with the toothbrush she had received from a kind, older lady who preached that candy was bad for you, had disappeared along with Parker from Eliot's sight, only to show up ten minutes later with a large bag of candy she had found in the lady's pantry, muttering how she was a hypocrite. Needless to say both had their candy taken away.

A disaster was averted on Thanksgiving when Parker offered to help with the turkey yet again. Seeing as she had destroyed the one three years previous, she had not been allowed near one since; but it didn't keep her from trying. Eliot, thinking that it would distract her and be a simple task, set her to work on chopping vegetables. It wasn't until he went to taste the stuffing and almost choked as his eyes watered from the spiciness, that he realized she had chopped up peppers instead of onions for it. A quick fix with his wife's help had a new dish of stuffing on the table in twenty minutes.

So it was no surprise that something was bound to happen on Christmas as well; which was why when the blanket fell from the ceiling to shroud him further into darkness, and Lily's alarm went off; he sighed and resigned himself to the fact that this holiday would be no different, and that his daughter had finally managed to 'catch' Santa.

"Cam! I caught him!" Lily screamed out in excitement, waking her older brother up very suddenly, giving Sarah, who was in the process of filling his stocking, barely enough time to drop and roll under his bed.

She watched with bated breath as her son slowly made his way out of the bed, and then choked back a gasp of surprise when he got on his knees and his face appeared.

"You comin'? You have to see what she did to dad," he commented with a smirk before standing up and walking out of the room, leaving Sarah lying there wondering what the hell had just happened.

By the time she crawled out from under the bed and made it to Lily's room, it was to find Eliot throwing the blanket to the floor and Lily standing in front of him with a disbelieving look on her face.

"Are you serious? You mean that Susan Farns is right and there's no Santa?" she exclaimed, her face distraught. "How could this be? You mean I've been good all these years and it's just you and mama pretendin'? What about the elves? And the North Pole? Oh no! That means the reindeer aren't even real. And Prancer was my favorite! I've been leaving out carrots for fake reindeer!" she cried out.

Of course both Eliot and Sarah knew their five year old was just venting and processing the information. She wasn't truly upset; otherwise there would have been tears. Cam leaned against the door with an amused expression on his face as Sarah squeezed by him and went to stand next to Eliot who was standing there quietly, trying not to smirk at his daughter's theatrics.

Sarah leaned into Eliot. "What happened?" she whispered.

"I was puttin' the candy in her stocking when that," he paused to point at the discarded blanket lying on the floor, "fell on me," he grumbled, earning a snicker from his wife. "The damn thing is weighted at the corners…I don't even know what triggered it," he stated in confusion.

"It was set off by the weight in the stocking," Cam supplied with a grin.

"How long have you known?" Sarah asked her eleven year old son pointedly with a raised brow.

Knowing full well what she was asking, he replied, "Three years."

"And you let us continue sneakin' around as Santa because…"

"The extra presents and candy of course," he answered proudly. "Every kid knows once they find out Santa is really their parents that the stocking disappears and there's a couple less presents under the tree," he explained. "Plus it was funny watchin' you and dad keep it secret," he finished with a chuckle.

"So Santa is really you and mama?" Lily asked, drawing their attention back to the little girl.

"Yeah princess," Eliot answered.

"And you guys have been eatin' the cookies I make?"

"Uhm…yeah," Eliot replied.

"But that doesn't mean that there wasn't really a St. Nick sweetie," Sarah added, hoping to soften the blow. "He just didn't live in the North Pole, there were no elves and there wasn't a flying sleigh pulled by reindeer," she explained gently.

"Well that's disappointing," she mumbled, causing her parents to smile at her vocabulary.

"Your word of the day I'm guessin'?" Sarah asked her, referring to her 'Word of the Day' calendar.

"Yeah," she sighed dramatically. "I still get the stuff that you were gonna put in my stocking right?"

"It's all already paid for," Eliot told her with a smirk.

"Can I still believe in him cause it's Christmas? Even though I know he isn't real?"

"Of course sweetie," Sarah answered, kneeling down. "I still believe in Santa."

"Really?" Lily replied hopefully.

"Why do you think she goes overboard with decorating the apartment every year?" Eliot answered teasingly, directing a smirk at his wife.

"I do not," she defended.

"Mom, you have snowflake decals all over the walls," Cam deadpanned.

"What's your point," she retorted. "Your presents can still be returned," she threatened, leveling her son with a glare, making his eyes widen.

"I'm goin' back to bed now," he stated, rushing off to his room.

"I see the spirit of Santa in Christmas," she explained to her daughter. "If I could get away with it, I'd still have my picture taken with him," she admitted with a smile. "You should get back to sleep now. We have a long day tomorrow. You okay?"

"Yeah mama," Lily replied, leaning in to give her a hug. "I'm not mad at you guys," she assured them, giving Eliot a hug as well. "I know you weren't doin' it to be mean. But I still want a stocking every Christmas," she stated emphatically as she climbed back into her bed.

"We'll talk about that later princess," Eliot told her, laying her pink blanket over her, knowing full well that she would get a stocking next year and every year after.

"We don't have to tell Aunt Parker about Santa do we?" she asked quietly.

"No, it can be our little secret," Sarah assured her softly as she leaned down to kiss her forehead.

"Good, cause she gets really excited about her Santa presents. Who's her Santa?" she asked curiously.

"How about we leave that a mystery," Eliot told her with a wink, causing her to giggle as she agreed.

"That went better than I could've hoped," Sarah admitted softly as they closed her bedroom door once Eliot had finished filling her stocking.

"I agree," he replied.

"We need to put their presents from Santa under the tree," Sarah informed him.

"Shouldn't we just put they're from us on the labels? They know Santa's not real now."

"That's not the point. It's the act that adds to the holiday," she told him simply. "Just like leaving out the milk, carrots and cookies."

"Sure, okay," he agreed, going along with it. "You need to finish Cam's stocking?"

"Uhm…yeah. I have to get the stuff from under his bed though," she admitted reluctantly.

"Why is it under his bed?"

"Cause that's where I hid when he woke up," she murmured embarrassingly.

The bark of laughter that followed wasn't a surprise as she glared at her husband finding a huge grin on his face.

"Go ahead, laugh it up. I'm not the one that got booby trapped by my five year old," she defended with a smug expression as she slipped silently into her son's room, leaving Eliot standing in the hallway.

"It was dark," he defended weakly, hearing his wife's quiet chuckle.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope everyone got lots and lots of goodies from Santa!<strong>

**Even after my sister & I figured it out when we were little, we still got a stocking every year and there was always one present under the tree for us from him. =)**

**Jen**


	5. Jealousy

**5. Jealousy**

**This one is all mine. They're both possessive people, so it had to have happened. =)**

**I still don't own Leverage.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Eliot and Sarah had only been married two months when they did their first con together. A man and his daughter were cheating people out of thousands of dollars in an insurance scam that they had been running all across the east coast for the last three years. Offering low premiums with the promise of almost nonexistent deductibles and copays, their shell company assured their victims that by paying for a full year up front, plus an administration fee, not only could they cover procedures that other insurances didn't, but would also cover the remainder of their current insurance premium.<p>

Their client, Mindy Adams, came to them a week ago explaining how the two had swindled her retired parents out of 30k. Upon further investigation; mainly on Hardison's part, they discovered that father and daughter, Nicholas and Stephanie Brown were actually Thomas and Meredith Walczak; both wanted by the FBI for a number of white collar crimes from embezzlement and identity theft to their current insurance fraud scam. The plan was simple, but no one anticipated the problem that would arise.

"Eliot, I need you to keep Meredith busy while Parker lifts her key card. Parker, once you have it, clone it and head up to her office to get all the files off her computer, then get them back to Hardison," Nate ordered over the comms, watching the room from where he stood at a table in the corner, drinking a scotch. "Sophie, how are you two doing?"

She watched as Thomas Walczak soaked up Sarah's flirting like a sponge, hanging on every word she was saying, causing Sophie to smile. "By the time she's done, he'll sign over his entire business," she chuckled quietly.

"Eliot, I'm waiting on you," Parker muttered impatiently as she served hors d'oeuvres from a silver tray.

"Eliot, what's the holdup man?" Hardison wanted to know. "Parker needs to get those files, I only have a small window and…"

"We may have a problem," Nate informed them as he watched his hitter from across the room.

"What's…uh oh," Sophie stated, seeing the look of pure rage etched on Eliot's handsome face as he glared at Thomas Walczak, who was all but making out with his wife as they danced, quite convincingly, to the salsa. "Maybe the dress was a little much," she commented worriedly on the skin tight, blood red bandage dress that was poured on Sarah's curvy frame like a second skin ending halfway down her thighs.

"What's wrong with the dress?" Parker wanted to know.

"Damn, is Eliot goin' all caveman? He had to know this was gonna happen when she left the house in it. There was no way Walczak wasn't gonna have his hands all…"

"Shut the hell up Hardison," Eliot snarled, low in his throat.

"Hey man, don't get snippy with me. You knew she was hot when you married her," he defended.

"I swear Hardison, I'm gonna break your…"

Both Nate and Sophie saw the worried expression on Sarah's face as she casted furtive glances between them and her husband, knowing that she couldn't speak at the moment. "That's enough," Nate barked.

"Eliot," Sophie began gently, "You need to calm down or you risk putting Sarah in danger," she told him, trying to appeal to his protectiveness over his wife.

"The only one in danger is Walczak," he growled in reply as he reluctantly headed towards Meredith.

The group watched in morbid fascination as his expression morphed from rage to charming flirt in the span of a few seconds as he began working on Meredith, reaching for her hand and laying a kiss on her knuckles before pulling her blushing and smiling form onto the dance floor as a tango began playing.

Not knowing that Eliot could do anything other than a basic slow dance, everyone but Hardison's eyes widened just slightly when he began moving her smoothly around the dance floor, using the anger that he had pent up for the dance. It didn't take long for Sarah to understand the feeling of possessive rage that her husband had been feeling for the last few minutes as she watched the twenty three year old rub all over her husband.

"What's goin' on guys?" Hardison asked impatiently. "Unlike you all, I'm stuck babysittin' in Nate's apartment, limited to what I can hear. And I'm not hearin' nothin'," he exclaimed in frustration.

"We might have a problem Nate," Sophie commented as she watched Sarah's eyes narrow and darken, before giving the new dance her all, channeling her anger into her moves while trying to show her husband how much his situation was pissing her off; which was funny because that's exactly what Eliot was doing.

"Guys!" Hardison exclaimed.

"Sarah and Eliot are having a tango dance off cause they're angry that their marks are getting' handsy with each other," Parker answered, eyes wide as her gaze kept switching between the two couples as if watching a tennis match. "This is better than a movie!" she stated happily with a manic grin.

"Nate…" Sophie began worriedly.

"Let it play out," he answered. "Parker, get what you need. The song won't last much longer."

"We should have known that this could happen," Sophie commented softly.

"Let's just get through this job," Nate said tiredly, watching the possibly volatile situation play out.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

Surprisingly, the rest of the evening played out smoother than anyone had expected; Eliot had sufficiently distracted Meredith while Parker had got the card, leaving quickly to finish her part, and Sarah did an excellent job of holding Thomas' attention as she slipped his keys to Sophie, allowing her to make a quick, plastic copy of his safe deposit key before slipping it back to Sarah so she could place them back in his pants pocket.

The anger and possessiveness the two had thrown out and poured into their dancing had several people feeling a little flushed after it was over; including the grifter and mastermind who had been watching. Not to mention father and daughter, both who had to be promised another meeting in a more…private setting, before husband and wife could get away.

But even as they made their way out, Nate and Sophie could tell that a confrontation was coming. So planning ahead, Sophie offered to let the kids spend the night since they were most likely already asleep in their guest room.

Both having taken separate cars to the party, they continued to stew in their anger all the way back to the bar and up to their apartment, Sarah making her way through the front door just moments before Eliot got off the elevator, giving her the small bit of satisfaction of shutting the front door in his face.

Growling, he jerked the door open, slamming it behind him, catching sight of her heading upstairs and followed her angrily, dead set on having words. However, when his eyes roved over her form in that dress, his anger changed into something else entirely as his entire being was consumed with the need to remind her who she was married to.

Her back to him, he reached out for her arm and spun her around, pushing her back against the wall and pinning her, his eyes darkened with lust. She could feel his need for her pouring off of him as his hand roughly jerked her skirt upward, while the other grabbed under her knee and hitched it up around his waist.

"I didn't like him touchin' you like that," Eliot rasped softly into her ear, trailing his hand up her thigh, causing her breathing to speed up. "You're mine," he purred darkly, the possessive tone sending delicious tremors down her spine.

"Think I enjoyed...watchin' that little tart rub...all over you like a cat in heat," she fired back in between her labored breathing as his hand moved from her thigh up to her breast and began massaging it through her dress while his mouth found the pulse point on her neck and began sucking it.

"Jealous were you?" he murmured darkly, using his other hand to move the lacy fabric of her panties out of the way before thrusting two digits into her wetness, dragging a cry of surprise from her lips.

"I was gonna punch...her if she touched you...one more time," she admitted, eyes closing in pleasure as his lips moved down her collarbone and his fingers began pistoning in and out of her, every back and forth movement allowing her to hear how wet she was around his fingers.

"You know how close I was to breakin' his bones," he murmured darkly, increasing the speed at which he moved his fingers.

"El...I'm gonna..."

"No you're not," he growled. "You don't come till I say so," he ordered.

When her legs began showing signs of collapsing, he ran his hand back down and cupped her ass, holding her up as his fingers continued to drive her closer and closer to her peak, capturing her lips at the same time in a deep kiss, swallowing her moans. And just when he felt that she was fixing to cum, he pulled out and pulled away, bringing his fingers to his mouth, cleaning them with a smirk on his face.

It took a moment for the pleasure induced haze to clear, but when it did and she realized he had stopped, a looked of frustration and disbelief marred her face. "Wanna play like that Spencer? Fine," she snarled, reaching out and ripping his shirt open, causing buttons to fly.

"I liked this shirt," he growled.

Smiling sweetly, she ran her hands up his abdomen, over his pecs to his shoulders. "Tough shit," she snapped, pushing him back onto the bed.

Briefly surprised, he watched as she slowly pulled the zipper down on the side of her dress, her gaze never leaving his face, and he took the opportunity to quickly remove his shoes and belt. Left in nothing but her heels and lacy underwear, she reached down and roughly yanked his pants down his legs, before tossing them to the side. And then she was between his legs and had his erect member hitting the back of her throat, ripping a growl from Eliot's throat.

Using every move she knew worked on him, her mouth worked up and down his length at a relentless pace, pulling Eliot closer and closer to completion. Her nails slightly digging into the fleshy skin of his thighs, she consistently hit the back of her throat, constricting her throat muscles around him.

"God sweetheart...I'm…close," he managed to say, eyes closed as he lost himself in the sensation of her mouth wrapped around him. And then just as suddenly as she had started, her mouth was gone and his eyes snapped open in surprise to see her sitting up on her knees with a smug expression.

"Doesn't feel so good when the table's turned huh?" she asked with raised brow.

A shiver ran up her spine as he leveled her with a predatory gaze, but she had no time to react as in a move so quick, he flipped her, ripped her thin panties off and plunged into her wet folds in one forceful stroke, ripping a scream from her throat.

"Feels pretty damn good to me," he growled, latching onto her breast as he pounded into her. Moving to the other breast moments later, her breathing started coming in ragged gasps as she moaned and panted, grabbing as much of him as she could, as he nipped and laved at her over sensitive nipples. Feeling that she was close, he roughly nipped her breast. "You don't come till I say," he reminded her.

"Please Eliot...god I..."

"Not...until...I...say," he repeated, punctuating each word with nips as he made his way up her collarbone.

And then he surprised her by grabbing her left thigh firmly and hitching it over his hip and holding it there as his thrusts became rougher and more insistent. His other hand slid under her head and his fingers tangled into her curls, holding her there as his mouth claimed hers in a searing kiss. He plundered her mouth as he pounded into her, his speed increasing to an almost inhuman pace, driving them both ruthlessly toward the orgasms they had been keeping from each other. She whimpered into his mouth, wordlessly pleading with him to let her cum.

His body pinned her to the bed and his hands held her against him as his movements became hard and frantic. Sarah was so close to the edge she could practically taste it as she broke the kiss and cried out in desire from the sheer intensity of the building climax.

"Come for me now sweetheart," he ordered roughly before his mouth found her neck again and he sucked hungrily, an almost feral growl rumbling in his throat.

That sound mixed with the order pushed her over the edge and the orgasm exploded around her, ripping through her body. She hardly realized she was calling out his name until her voice was drowned out by his own loud growl as he found his release. His body went stiff, thrusting against her as her fingers scrabbled for purchase pulling her body up against his sweat slicked skin. Waves of pleasure rolled over her as all the tension he had built up released and traveled through her body.

When she finally fell back against the bed, she was so exhausted she could hardly move. Eliot fell on top of her, spent and sated; and even though she wanted to run her fingers through his long locks, she was too weak to even lift her arm. Moments later, Eliot managed to roll off of her, lying next to her and pulling her close.

They were silent for several minutes as they worked to slow their breathing and bask in the afterglow.

"You have nothin' to worry about you know," he murmured, pressing a kiss into her hair.

"Neither do you," she answered, curling closer against him. "I just have jealousy issues and they flock to you like moths to a flame," she explained.

"You're not the only one who gets jealous," he told her. "I have you, I don't need anyone else. I really didn't like him touchin' you."

"Same here, but it's part of the job and we can't let it interfere," she added with a sigh.

"I think we can manage that if this is how we solve it," he chuckled, causing her to smile.

"You're such a pervert," she teased, shoving his shoulder.

"You knew that when you married me," he shot back with a grin.

"Sorry 'bout your shirt," she giggled.

"Hell with the shirt," he growled, rolling back on top of her and taking her lips in a hungry kiss.

* * *

><p><strong>Just cause I felt a bit of smut was needed. =)<strong>

**Jen**


	6. When It Rains

**When it Rains…**

**No, I'm not dead…and no, I have no excuse for leavin' you guys in the lurch for so long. I guess you could say that I was uninspired; that and I've been doin' research and plannin' out the next story, actually, I keep having sporadic ideas for 3 stories, soooo….**

**Anyway, this one's a little dark, but I felt like seeing that side of Eliot this round. =)**

No one would ever say that life with the Leverage team was dull or uneventful.

Eliot Spencer prided himself on being able to roll with the punches and adapt to almost any given situation. It was a necessary skill to have in his line of work, as well as fatherhood and marriage.

In May when a girl and her boyfriend had called Lily a freak, Cam stepped in to defend her, resulting in the boy punching Cam. What secretly amused him however, was when his ten year old daughter had tackled the sixteen year old boy to the ground. The feeling had been replaced by pride however, when he was informed that Cam had punched the boy in the jaw when he went to hit her. But the principal wasn't as amused, and called both he and Sarah down to the school to explain why they were both suspended…two weeks before the end of school. He then had the pleasure of watching his 5'6" wife go toe to toe with the 6'2" principal when they found out that the boy who had started the fight wasn't getting punished. Twenty minutes later when they all left the office, all three kids had detention after school for a week.

When the kids brought home a stray cat the next month that had broken legs, he and Sarah calmly explained, yet again; as this was a normal occurrence, why the kitten couldn't stay with them. Of course when the trip to the local animal shelter had resulted in them being informed that the kitten would have to be euthanized due to severe internal infections, they spent the next two weeks consoling the kids in their grief. His nerves did twitch however, when it took almost three weeks to clear the house of the major flea infestation that had followed. If not for Sarah and Anne, Eliot would have banned the kids from ever bringing another animal into the house again.

A con in July went horribly wrong when the mark's daughter overheard Parker talking to Hardison over the comms. Within minutes, she had alerted her father, and security had flooded the area, pinning Nate and Parker on opposite sides of the building, two floors apart, and Eliot stuck in the server room downloading files. Sarah jumped out of Lucille, leaving Hardison, and ran into the building, announcing that she would get Parker. But by the time Eliot made it to where Nate had been, the older man was gone. He didn't have time to worry though, when his wife's grunts of pain over the comms filled him with anger.

Having been attacked by seven men, the girls had done pretty well; five were on the floor unconscious. It seemed though that the last two were more adept at fighting, as he found Parker sitting against a wall, holding her ribs, while Sarah stood protectively in front of her, trying to fend them off, with a gash on her forehead and favoring her left leg. Eliot had dispatched them quickly, getting the two women out of the building.

Nate was missing for three days, during which time Sophie was inconsolable. But in the end, Hardison found him, and Eliot and Sarah had gone in, tearing their way through the security, to find him tied to a chair in an abandoned prison. Their grifter felt like she had lost years off her life when she saw the sorry state he was in. He ended up having to stay in the hospital for three weeks due to broken bones, muscle damage, and an infection that had taken hold in his lungs. By the time he got out, Hardison, Parker, Eliot and Sarah had finished the con, the mark having gone to prison for laundering.

Two weeks ago, he had lost a year of his life when a sparring session with Cam had gone wrong, and ended with the sixteen year old fracturing his elbow. He had rushed him to the hospital, only to be accused with several pairs of eyes that he might be abusing Cam. The doctor had even asked to speak with Cam alone, inquiring about his home life, which resulted in Eliot barging back into the room when he heard Cam's raised voice. The expression on his boy's face said it all, and if the look of fear on the doctor's face was anything to go by, as he pressed against the wall, his son had taken serious offense to the accusation. Of course the confrontation with his wife when she got home had him in the same situation. Sarah had not been happy. He had slept on the couch for two nights before she forgave him.

Now nearing the end of August, and the beginning of Cam and Lily's school year, he was ashamed to admit that he briefly let his guard down…which as he was now realizing had been a mistake.

Two weeks ago, Sarah had received a call from her friend Kerri, whom she had met on one of their cons two years ago, to tell her that she was finally getting married. Kerri and her then boyfriend Jeremy had been hustled out of the money they had saved for a house in a pyramid scam. After the con was over, the mark arrested, and their money returned, Sarah got a call from Kerri a week later asking her if she wanted to go out for drinks. They had been friends ever since. So it had been no surprise when Sarah stated in no uncertain terms, that she was going to throw her a bachelorette party. It helped that Kerri lived in Vegas.

When Sarah didn't call him the morning after the party, he brushed it off, thinking that she had just drank too much and was sleeping it off in her hotel room. When he still hadn't heard from her by that afternoon, he called her cell, only to have it go to voice mail. So he called the hotel she had made reservations at and confirmed that she had yet to check out today as planned. The receptionist graciously offered to ring her room, but when she received no answer, Eliot asked her to have a porter check the suite to make sure she was okay. Her room was found empty and appeared to have not been slept in. By early evening, Hardison had tracked the gps on her cell phone to the parking lot of the strip club the girls had gone to, when the gps for her rental car showed it was still parked at the hotel. And by 11 o'clock, Eliot was walking toward the nearest car rental counter at McCarran International Airport.

He arrived at the club thirty minutes later, but unfortunately the parking lot was packed, as the evening crowd had already arrived, making it harder to search for clues. Hoping her cell phone hadn't died yet, he called it and was rewarded with a ringing, not twenty feet away.

"Damn it sweetheart, where the hell are you," he muttered darkly as he picked it up.

Surveying the surrounding area, he found what he was hoping for when he spotted a camera mounted over the front door to the club. So, using a few techniques Sophie had taught him, with the help of a few bills, he quickly made his way inside, and within two minutes, he was in a small room, looking at last night's security tape. Around the 10:00pm timestamp, he saw the limo with Sarah, Kerri and three women he didn't know, pull up and drop them off before driving away. When the timestamp hit 2:22am, he slowed the video down again as he watched the women exiting the club. It was obvious that they were drunk, Kerri much more so, if her stumbling around and holding onto his wife for support was anything to go by.

His sharp gaze caught the expression on his wife's face, even on the grainy playback, and watched as she looked around as if confused that something wasn't there that should have been.

"Someone must have sent the limo away," he muttered darkly.

"Excuse me sir?" the young employee asked cautiously.

"I wasn't talkin' to you," Eliot growled out, watching the scene unfold on the screen.

A dark colored van pulled up moments later, and Sarah had had barely enough time to push Kerri and the girls behind her, before five guys jumped out and made to grab for them. A sixth joined in seconds later, when Sarah took out one of them with a couple of well-aimed hits. Even through the darkening of his eyes from the rage he felt at seeing her being attacked, the barest hint of a smirk lifted the corner of his mouth at the fact that the men on the tape got a whole lot more than they expected when they decided to assault the women. Even in her inebriated state, his girl was giving them hell, although he could tell that she wasn't in top form due to it. The low rumbling from his chest moments later as he watched one of the men sneak up behind her and hit her on the head knocking her out, had the club employee backing away from the hitter.

Slamming a fifty on the counter, Eliot already had Hardison on the phone searching for the partial plate number before he made it to his vehicle.

"Okay man, I got a hit. The van is registered to a Leo Martin, robbery, assault, kidnapping; small crimes."

"His address Hardison," Eliot growled out.

"It's not that simple man. It's who he works for that's the problem. Bernardo Salirno…he dabbles in drug and arms trafficking, money laundering, and racketeering, but specializes in…oh shit."

"Damn it Hardison, spit it out!"

"Human trafficking," the hacker murmured. "He supplies women to buyers all over Europe, Russia and China. He's been on the FBI's watch list for years, but they've never managed to find enough evidence to charge him. You've gotta be kiddin' me."

"What is it Hardison?" Eliot growled out, hearing fear in the hacker's voice.

"I can't be sure man…but I think…I think this is the man that Rafael was going to hand Sarah over to eleven years ago."

The silence was so deafening, that a pin being dropped would have sounded like a bomb. Hardison began talking, most likely to explain the connection and to talk him out of what he was fixing to do, but all Eliot heard was…memories.

'_Oh I don't think you'll be leaving just yet," Rafael said with a cocky smile. "I have a friend coming to meet Sarah.'_

'_I don't think so,' Sarah replied._

'_You don't have much say in the matter my dear. I've warned him that you're going to be a handful, but he says he likes the challenge. And with his success rate, he should have you trained properly in no time at all. Then I'm sure you'll make him a good amount of money with that body of yours.'_

"Eliot? Eliot! I'm gonna get Nate, he'll know what…"

"No."

"Look man, I know it's Sarah, but this is serious, you can't do this on your own. This man is on the FBI's ten most wanted list. He's like a wanna be Moreau. There'll be too many…"

"Stop talkin' Hardison. I need an address."

Hardison sighed. "Sure man, for what?"

"The nearest army surplus store."

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

Eliot surveyed the area around the twenty story building with a critical eye assessing everything from possible threats to exit points, as he slid the last of the knives into the tack vest and pulled the black beanie over his hair. By the time he had finished 'borrowing' supplies from a closed surplus store, Hardison had called him back with the information that Bernardo Salirno owned a casino slash hotel in downtown Vegas, and that he had caught the van in question pulling up near the back door around 245am, thanks to the security cameras surrounding the building. Any further urging on the hacker's part to let him tell Nate went on deaf ears as Eliot ended the call.

He bypassed the camera easily as he dispatched the two security guards within seconds, and then dragged them behind the nearby dumpster before silently entering the building. Find nothing but a hallway with a T-Junction and several doors, he began his search.

It was her scream moments later that alerted him to where she was. But it was the terror in her tone that had him barreling through the three men that came around the corner, surprised to see an intruder. The flurry of blows the hitter unleashed on them however; breaking multiple bones as well as puncturing one's lung, had them unconscious on the ground within moments, allowing him to continue towards the room at the end of the hallway.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

Sarah struggled against the man as best as one could, handcuffed to a bed. She had put on a brave front at first, taking down several of Bernardo's men before he finally ordered them to give her something to calm her down, resulting in the mild sedative that had been in her system for almost twelve hours. Because of this, any normal attempts she would have made for escape were eliminated, as it messed with her muscles and mental acuity. She hadn't seen Kerri or the other girls since she had been brought into this room six hours ago, but listening to the very talkative men, gave her the knowledge that they were at least alive. It also gave her the unwelcome knowledge on her situation.

Apparently, Jeremy had stupidly gotten involved with Salirno, arranging meetings with possible clients, as well as making deliveries. But he got greedy, skimming money off the top, in hopes that it wouldn't be noticed. It had been of course, which resulted in Salirno giving him twenty four hours to get him his money back. When that hadn't happened, he went after the next best thing…..Kerri. Unfortunately, the night they decided to abduct her, happened to be the night of her bachelorette party. Sarah wasn't sure if Jeremy was still alive or not, but if he wasn't, he was going to wish he was by the time she was finished with him….if she got out of her current situation.

Antonio, the man on top of her; being much too friendly for her tastes, was Bernardo's 'tester'. He checked out the 'merchandise', (aka. the girls), to get a feel so to speak, of their worth. She was trying not to show the terror that she was feeling, at the fact that this man could very well rape her, and there was nothing she could do to fight back. And if anything solidified her assumption of his plans, it was the fact that he had stripped her to nothing but her bra and underwear.

"Go ahead, struggle honey, I like a little fire in my girls," he chuckled in a raspy voice as his hand skimmed their way up her thighs and hips to her breast.

"Big words…comin' from a man that has ta…drug a girl ta get some," she retorted with as much of a sneer as she could muster through the haze of the drugs.

The dark chuckle that greeted her, sent a chill up her spine, as one hand squeezed her breasts hard enough to make her wince from the pain. She couldn't stop the gasp that escaped her shortly after, as a long knife appeared in his other hand. He dragged it lightly across her skin, down her breastbone, then navel, before quickly flicking it upwards, cutting through her bra. The terrified scream that clawed its way up her throat of its own accord caused him to wince, as she started bucking her hips and struggling against the handcuffs frantically, trying to escape.

"That's it gorgeous, move those hips for me. I think you're over reacting though. Relax, you might even enjoy it," he cooed, lowering his mouth to move over her newly exposed skin.

A sob caught in her throat, and tears pooled in her eyes, hoping more than anything for help to come, but knowing that it was unlikely.

The door slamming against the wall as it was kicked open, and the growl that followed, had both her and her attacker's heads jerking towards the sound. The sob she had held back freed itself as she cried out in blissful relief for the man she hoped she was not hallucinating.

Antonio was on his feet in an instant. "Who the hell are you? What the fuck are you doing here?"

Eliot heard none of this however, as he took in the scene of his wife, chained to a bed, in nothing but her underwear, and the strange man standing in front of him that had been on top of her.

If the man had had any sense of self preservation, he would have taken the darkening of the hitter's eyes as the first sign. The change in Eliot's demeanor as he began walking towards him, as if a lion stalking his prey, would have been the second. But as Antonio apparently lacked this particular ability, he had no chance to react as Eliot dodged his oncoming swing, twisted the knife from his hand, and snapped his neck.

Grabbing the keys out of the dead man's pocket, he had Sarah out of the handcuffs and in his arms seconds later. Gasping sobs escaped her as she clung to him, desperately gripping him as if afraid he would disappear. "I'm here sweetheart. I got you," he assured her, silently giving thanks that he had found her alive.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

Eliot woke up the next morning in much the same position he had fallen asleep in; curled up behind Sarah with his arm around her waist and her hand in his.

It had only taken moments the previous night to devise a plan. After wrapping a sheet around Sarah, she had led him to Kerri and the girls last know location. They were all together, drugged and handcuffed to the wall. Eliot had Sarah make a call to the cops, explaining what had happened to her and her friends and where they were. By the time the cops arrived, Eliot had made himself disappear temporarily, watching from across the street, as the cops took the girls' statements and the emts checked them over. A worried call from Sarah had him 'arriving' at the scene ten minutes later, with the story that he knew she was with friends and hadn't suspected anything.

Upon searching the back of the Casino/Hotel for any other possible women, the FBI hit the mother lode. One of the rooms they came upon held records of all Salirno's dealing in the last fifteen years. It didn't help that the girls could positively id him as one of their kidnappers. The FBI now had the proof they had been searching for. He, Sarah and the girls had the pleasure of watching him and his men, being led away in handcuffs.

Jeremy, having been in a meeting with Salirno, and ousted by the man himself as one of his men, stupidly struggled against the cops to get closer to Kerri as he screamed out apologies. Kerri sobbed into the arms of one of her friends and ignored him, as Sarah slowly pulled away from Eliot, walked up to the pathetic man, and cold cocked him as best she could in her current state. If not for the cops holding his arms, he would have been knocked on his ass. Needless to say, there would be no marriage.

After hugs had been exchanged, with a promise to call each other soon, Eliot drove Sarah back to the hotel at her request. No words were spoken as she curled against him while he drove, and he said nothing when she headed straight to the bathroom upon arriving, knowing that she wanted to scrub the last twenty four hours away. It wasn't until she was curled in his arms forty five minutes later; skin sensitive and reddened, that she allowed herself to cry; sobbing into his chest as he curled around her, trying to soothe her as best he could. She eventually cried herself to sleep.

He knew she was awake when her breathing sped up. She quickly tried to jerk away, only to have him turn her around to look him in the face. "It's me sweetheart. You're safe. I've got you," he assured her, knowing that she had briefly forgotten where she was.

"I'm sorry…I thought," she whispered in a cracking voice, pressing herself to his chest.

"I know," he replied.

"I love you El," she murmured, looking up into his eyes. "Thank you for comin' for me."

"I'll always come for you sweetheart," he promised her, leaning down to kiss her forehead lovingly.

**Okay, as I see it…Eliot paused only briefly before killin' all the men in that warehouse(even though I know it bothered him), and that was just to get the Italian out so she could burn Moreau. So in my mind, his wife having been kidnapped, beaten, drugged, and sexually assaulted (in any form), would bring that out in him with NO hesitation.**

**Hope you enjoyed it. **

**Jen=)**


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